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Storm Lake is a city in and the county seat of Buena Vista County, Iowa, United States. The population was 11,269 in the 2020 census, an increase from 10,076 in the 2000 census. It is one of the only cities in Iowa with a non-white majority population.
Located along the northern shore of Storm Lake, the city is home to King's Pointe Waterpark Resort, the Living Heritage Tree Museum, the Santa's Castle holiday attraction, and Buena Vista University, a private university. Housing a large Tyson Foods meatpacking plant, the town is responsible for some 3.5% of pork production in the United States.
History
Storm Lake's first European settler, Abner Bell, arrived in 1856, and the city was officially incorporated in 1873. Though early settlers found no natives permanently occupying the land, the area around the lake was likely used for fishing and hunting by tribes traveling from the north. Centuries prior to European colonization, the area was home to the Mill Creek indigenous culture. Railroad magnate John Insley Blair platted out land in Storm Lake in the 1870s. During the same decade, the Illinois Central Railroad was constructed through the town.
The city of Storm Lake is named for the lake where it is said a trapper experienced a severe storm. An alternate story claims the lake took its name after two star-crossed lovers from opposed Native American bands paddled out for a secret rendezvous, only to be drowned as a sudden storm blew in. During the 1940s, a prisoner-of-war camp was temporarily established in Storm Lake. In 1956, the main building of the Buena Vista University campus burned down. The central brick archway was salvaged and remains standing.
In the closing pages of his 1989 book, The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America, author Bill Bryson eulogizes Storm Lake as the final town he visited during his nostalgic trip of the Midwest, "Somebody once told me that Storm Lake was a nice town, so I decided to drive in and have a look. And by golly, it was wonderful. ... Maybe it was the time of year, the mild spring air, the fresh breeze, I don't know, but it seemed just perfect. The little downtown was solid and unpretentious, full of old brick buildings and family-owned stores. Beyond it a whole series of broad, leafy streets, all of them lined with fine Victorian homes, ran down to the lakefront where a park stood along the water's edge. ... The whole town was spotless. Across the street, a boy on a bike slung newspapers onto front porches and I would almost swear that in the distance I saw two guys in 1940's suits cross the street without breaking a stride. And somewhere at an open window, Deanna Durbin sang. Suddenly I didn't want the trip to be over." Bryson recalls buying a newspaper and reading it in a coffeeshop, where a waitress said, "'...how you doin' today?' She sounded as if she really cared. I expect she did. Boy, are midwestern people wonderful."
Storm Lake was a landing place of Hmong and Tai Dam refugees following the Vietnam War. Meat packing jobs have drawn thousands of migrant workers, predominantly from Latin America. Work vouchers and other factors have also drawn immigration from Micronesia. Storm Lake is currently one of ten cities in the mainland United States to host a polling location for Micronesian elections. A 2017 New York Times profile analyzed the positive effects of immigration on the Storm Lake community. Also that year, journalist Katie Couric interviewed Storm Lake residents for a National Geographic story on the town's diversity. A 2020 article in Fox News highlighted Storm Lake as an example of the positive economic impacts of immigration on rural communities.
In 2018, lifelong resident and Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaperman, Art Cullen published the book, Storm Lake: A Chronicle of Change, Resilience, and Hope from a Heartland Newspaper. In a related work that highlights the community, the Cullen family and their newspaper business, The Storm Lake Times, Beth Levison and Jerry Risius produced and directed the 2021 documentary film Storm Lake.
Geography
Storm Lake is located in the northwestern part of the state, along the north shore of its namesake Storm Lake, a glacial lake. It directly borders Lakeside, a smaller community located on the east shore of the lake. It is the principal city of the Storm Lake micropolitan area.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.
Due to its location, Storm Lake is a popular campaign trail stop during presidential elections, having drawn visits from George H. W. Bush, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Mitt Romney, Kamala Harris, and Bernie Sanders.
Climate
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